


The Crystal Blade

by FemmeMalheureuse



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Gen, Girls' Night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:01:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27688646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FemmeMalheureuse/pseuds/FemmeMalheureuse
Summary: Andy and Nile chill out while watching a history documentary.
Kudos: 21





	The Crystal Blade

~ | ~ | ~ | ~

It’s girls’ night, by default. Nicky, Joe, and Booker have gone to Copley’s to watch football, leaving Andy and Nile alone at their current safe house because they could care less about men violently tossing each other around on a manicured field over possession of a ball. They’re not particularly girly girls, these two warriors, but it’s a good night to bond and educate the youngest immortal at the same time.

The two women spend the evening flopped on the couch, eating junk food and watching a documentary series on pre-classic western history.

Nile was never much into history. She’s finding it far more interesting now than it was when she was in high school because it’s become personal — she knows some of the players. They’ve told her a lot of stories from their experiences which make history a living, breathing thing instead of pallid and desiccated words on a page.

Andy isn’t much of a teacher. Of the entire team, Nicky and Joe are more likely to spend the time sharing knowledge because they are the most educated themselves. Andy’s always itching to go, too focused on making shit happen, getting things done. Every once in a while, though, she relaxes and lets it go, loosens her control. That’s when things get interesting.

~ | ~ | ~ | ~

Andy stops munching on a handful of popcorn, squinting at the flatscreen for a moment as an object is discussed by the host of an archaeology documentary. “Oh, so that's where I lost that knife. Huh."

“Wait,” Nile chokes out, swallowing hard on half-chewed popcorn. “You lost that knife in a battle five thousand years ago? How the fuck old are you, beeyotch? You don't look a day over 35."

“Oh, yeah, was just a little internecine squabble. It was a rough neighborhood, too many different people jockeying for ownership of resources. The usual. Not overcrowded, just confusing."

“Confusing...?” Nile grabs the remote and turns down the volume.

“There must have been a half dozen different peoples speaking different languages in the area. The Tartessian dominated the region — it's Seville province now — controlling the port. Then there were the Tarduli along with at least two or three different subsects, and the Celtici."

“Sounds like the Celts in Ireland."

Andy cocks her head and raises an eyebrow. "Yeah...where do you think the dark-haired people called Black Irish got their looks?"

"They traveled that far?"

"As I said, it wasn't overcrowded, just confusing. Some groups of people like the Celtici took off to find open land. But the reason I lost my knife was that two different factions of the Tartessi wanted to control the port and lock it down, to prevent people like the Celtici from coming back. They were taking women and children hostage, killing them when they couldn't get a break on their own terms."

"And you fought with one of the sides?” Nile asked, her hand poised mid-air above the popcorn bowl.

"No, I freed the women and children, helped them run off and leave the men to beat the shit out of each other. Unfortunately that knife was more ornamental than functional."

"Looks sharp as fuck to me. What's wrong with it other than it's FIVE THOUSAND YEARS OLD?"

"Hah. It had a nice sharp edge, but the tang couldn't hold the bone and gold alloy handle. Very pretty, both blade and handle, the kind of thing they gifted to warrior goddesses then."

Nikki garbles with a mouthful of popcorn. "Give this goddess an AR-15, thank you very much,” flinging little pieces of corn as she gestured to herself.

"If only. So I managed to get close to the women and children by allowing myself to be worshipped, even had my own temple. I had a version of my labrys, one with a nice bronze blade, but sneaking up on guards requires a knife. I'm sure you've trained on this."

"Yes, ma'am. Standard issue USMC fighting utility knife."

"I didn't have anything on me quite that effective since I was pretending to be a goddess. Just that crystal knife. I waited until after sunset, when guards were fewest and unable to see well because it was the new moon.” Andy squinted at the TV. “Torches made with pitch throw light for crap. Even that TV throws more light."

"Wow. Don't even think about stuff like that now when we have night vision goggles and LED Maglites."

"Yup, timing mattered because of light. Anyhow, that damned gold and bone handle, pretty as it was, shaped like a Celtic stellae, didn't hold the tang very tightly under repeated use. The entire knife was slippery with blood and it fell apart. The crystal was too slick to use on its own so I pitched it and the handle deep into brush. I snagged a bronze blade off one of the guards instead."

"Did any of them kill you?"

"No. Stabbed me badly, but my healing powers were pretty fast then. I managed to get the women and children out of the part of the palacio they were holding them in and shoo them off to some caves. I went back and finished my job."

"All the men were dead?"

"Just the power-hungry assholes. I knew from the prayers offered up who was going to take care of the women and children, and who was going to share the port. I had a chat with them and explained if they screwed up I would be back."

"Isn't that an Arnold Schwarzenegger line in one of the Terminator movies?"

Andy snorts. "You should ask the screenwriter if that line is one of Andromache of Scythia's lines."

"So that's how Copley got to you, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You saved the women and children who were defenseless. He knew what choice you'd make."

"Huh. I guess I hadn't thought of that. But there's no way he'd have known about the Tartessi incident. It was prehistory in that part of the world at the time. Writing to document and archive events wouldn't happen with any consistency for some time. If there was any record they’re long gone. I’m shocked the knife survived. Sheepskin and papyrus-like writing surfaces certainly didn’t, and definitely not about that event considering how much damage I did at the time."

"Truth. But through history you've left a trail of obvious decisions. You saved those who were defenseless from those who used power corruptly."

"Yes. When we say we do what we think is right, that's it. Be there for those who are defenseless. Punch up, not down. Ίση και ακριβής δικαιοσύνη για όλους — that is to say, we seek equal and exact justice for all.”

"And you think you're not a goddess. Heh. A lot of humans struggle with doing the right thing."

"Not a goddess. I just play one on TV."

"And now I get to do that, too."

"Doesn’t mean you get to eat all the popcorn, baby beeyotch. Don’t think I didn’t notice you chatted me up to snag the bowl."

Nile’s face splits with one her trademarked slow grins, her cheeks puffed out with a mouthful of corn.

**Author's Note:**

> Image: Graphic of crystal tholos knife excavated in southern Spain between 2007-2011, dated ~3000 BCE - mod/adaptation by author.
> 
> Reference:  
> Morgado, A., et al., The allure of rock crystal in Copper Age southern Iberia: Technical skill and distinguishedobjects from Valencina de la Concepcion (Seville, Spain), Quaternary International (2015), http:// dx. doi. org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.08.004 [remove spaces to navigate to paper]
> 
> Story: The Crystal Blade - that portion which is original content copyright 2020 by Femme Malheureuse (@femme_mal)


End file.
